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HOLIDAY WINDOWS

The Holiday store windows, a Field's tradition for over 100 years, have depicted specific holiday themes which have ranged from Christmas Around the World to Cinderella, Pinocchio and A Christmas Carol. Generations of families make the pilgrimage to our windows to take in their tradition. Our first Holiday windows were the work of Visual Manager Arthur Fraser, considered the father of modern window display, and continue today with our current staff of Visual Designers and Dressers.

UNCLE MISTLETOE, AUNT HOLLY & THE FIELDMOUSE FAMILY

Marshall Field's windows have always drawn a crowd, but at Christmas time in 1946, they became a unique attraction in the city. That was the year Field's introduced Uncle Mistletoe, Santa's ambassador-at-large, as the star of Field's story windows. This chubby pickwickian-Dickensian figure with short white hair, bright red great-coat, black coachman's top hat and flying white aviator's scarf was conceived by Field's and designed by Addis Osborne, an instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago and the husband of a Field's associate Joanna Osborne. To allow Uncle Mistletoe to be Santa's "ambassador", he was outfitted with gauzy white wings, which allowed him to fly all over the world. His name was drawn from the sprig of mistletoe he carried in his hat.

In the late 1940's and early 50's, Uncle Mistletoe had his own television show. He also presided over the Kindness Club where, to be a member, a child had to write a letter describing an act of kindness he or she had performed. Members were rewarded with a Kindness Club button and a copy of the Kindness song. The Kindness Club had 15,000 members by the time the show went off the air.

In 1948 Aunt Holly, Uncle Mistletoe's wife, joined him in the windows. Aunt Holly wore her white hair poled high on her head with a bun encircled with a band of holly. Her red dress was trimmed with eyelet and her white apron gave her a homey, kindly appearance. Aunt Holly did not need wings for she preferred to tend to their home... a white gingerbread-style house called "Cozy Cloud Cottage." It was here that Santa stopped on his way to and from the North Pole.

In 1973, two new characters were added-Freddie Field Mouse and his wife Martha. 1980, 4 Field Mouse children were added: Flora, Fannie, Franklin and Forrester. In 1985, Dayton's (now known today as Marshall Field's) introduced Santabear.